Cancer News and Research

Latest Cancer News and Research

Xencor, MorphoSys initiate XmAb5574 Phase 1 study in CLL

Xencor, Inc. and MorphoSys AG announced today that they have initiated Phase 1 testing for XmAb®5574 (MOR208), and the first patient has been dosed. XmAb5574 (MOR208) is a potent monoclonal anti-CD19 antibody to which MorphoSys recently gained worldwide access via an exclusive license and collaboration agreement with Xencor.

2 Dec 2010

Trillium presents results from cancer stem cell program at ASH Annual Meeting

Trillium Therapeutics Inc. (TTI), a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative immune-based biologics, today announced that preliminary results from its cancer stem cell program, targeting the CD47 protein, will be reported in an oral presentation at the 52nd American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting to be held in Orlando, Florida, December 4-7, 2010.

2 Dec 2010

Amgen to present data on Nplate studies for chronic ITP at ASH Annual Meeting

Amgen today announced that it will present data from several key Nplate (romiplostim) studies at the 52nd Annual Meeting and Exposition of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), Dec. 4-7, 2010, in Orlando, Fla.

2 Dec 2010

AstraZeneca announces FDA Advisory Committee meeting outcome for vandetanib NDA

AstraZeneca today announced the outcome of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee meeting to discuss the New Drug Application (NDA) for AstraZeneca's investigational drug, vandetanib, for the treatment of patients with unresectable (non-operable) locally advanced or metastatic medullary thyroid cancer (MTC).

2 Dec 2010

FDA panel rejects expansion of drug label

The New York Times: A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee on Tuesday rejected a bid to change the labels of two drugs to say they can reduce the risk of prostate cancer. "If the drugs were approved for that purpose, they would be only the second class of cancer-prevention drugs on the market."

2 Dec 2010

Radiation hazard from diagnostic tests

In a nationwide safety effort launched this week in Chicago health care providers are pledging to stop the overuse of radiation on patients during medical examinations. The pledge at the Image Wisely campaign is signed so far by nearly 700 health care providers. It pledges to use the least radiation necessary on patients for a procedure. An expert panel at a radiology meeting Thursday said the campaign may lead to more review of protocols, more accreditation of imaging facilities and more widely shared standards on proper radiation doses.

2 Dec 2010

Weighty issues

A new study shows that the ideal body mass index or BMI is between 20 and 24.9. BMI is calculated by dividing weight in Kilograms by the square of height in meters. The study authors examined nearly 1.5 million adults and found that even being slightly overweight but not obese, are enough to raise the risk of an early death.

2 Dec 2010

ROCHE, Baylor Research Institute partner in human immunology research

Baylor Research Institute (BRI), the research arm of Baylor Health Care System, announced today that it has formed a three-year partnership with Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) to jointly develop programs emerging from the human immunology platforms developed at the Baylor Institute for Immunology Research (BIIR), a component of BRI.

2 Dec 2010

Hybrigenics receives EUR 800,000 payment from Oseo

Hybrigenics (ALHYG), a bio-pharmaceutical group with a focus on research and development of new cancer treatments and a fully-owned subsidiary specialized in protein interactions services, today announces it has received EUR 800,000 as the second and last payment of a EUR 1.4 million refundable grant contract originally signed with France’s innovation agency, Oseo Innovation, in 2008.

2 Dec 2010

New clue in leukemia mystery

There is new hope for people with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), a fast-growing cancer of the blood and bone marrow. Research led by Weill Cornell Medical College and published today in the online edition of the journal Cancer Cell reveals a surprising and unexpected cancer-causing mechanism. The investigators discovered that newly identified mutant enzymes in AML create a chemical poison to cause leukemia. Their findings should prove useful in treating patients by providing a molecular target against which to develop new drugs against one subset of AML as well as other cancers.

2 Dec 2010

MicroRNA linked to mosquito blood digestion and egg development identified

Each year, dengue fever infects as many as 100 million people while yellow fever is responsible for about 30,000 deaths worldwide. Both diseases are spread by infected female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which require vertebrate blood to produce eggs. The blood feeding and the egg development are tightly linked to how the mosquito transmits the disease-causing virus.

2 Dec 2010

First Edition: December 2, 2010

Today's health policy headlines include news about how the debt panel's plan would boost costs for seniors on Medicare; how parts of the GOP are making clear their positions regarding health reform "repeal and replace" strategy; and how limited health plans faced critics at a Senate hearing.

2 Dec 2010

News segment highlights value of hyperthermia for treatment of breast cancer

BSD Medical Corp. today reported that hyperthermia treatment delivered at Texas Oncology-Baylor Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center in Dallas was highlighted in a television segment titled, "Turning up the heat on breast cancer," which aired on WFAA-TV, a Dallas/Fort Worth ABC affiliated television station.

2 Dec 2010

Freedom to Breathe Act improves health without imposing economic burden on hospitality

New research released in the December 2010 supplement to the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (AJPM) concludes that Minnesota's statewide smoke-free law has not adversely affected bar and restaurant employment. The research adds to the growing body of evidence on the Freedom to Breathe Act's success and offers the first analysis of independent data from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.

2 Dec 2010

European Commission approves Pfizer's SUTENT for pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors

Pfizer Inc. announced today that the European Commission has approved SUTENT (sunitinib malate) for the treatment of unresectable or metastatic, well-differentiated pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (NET) with disease progression in adults.

2 Dec 2010

AVEO to present data on tivozanib Phase 1b trial for breast cancer at SABCS Symposium

AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing cancer therapeutics, today announced that new clinical data from a Phase 1b trial evaluating the company's lead product candidate, tivozanib, a highly potent and selective inhibitor of VEGF receptors 1, 2, and 3, in combination with paclitaxel (Taxol), a standard chemotherapy regimen, will be presented during the 33rd Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) being held December 8-12, 2010 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas.

2 Dec 2010

Study finds inconsistency in OTC medications for children

Instructions on boxes and bottles of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines for children in the United States are confusing and hard for parents to understand and follow, according to a study in the December 1 issue of JAMA.

2 Dec 2010

Mount Sinai’s instructor receives Liz Tilberis Grant from OCRF

AnaLisa DiFeo, PhD, Instructor in the Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, has been honored by the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (OCRF) with the Liz Tilberis Grant.

2 Dec 2010

UMDNJ experts to discuss IOM guidelines on vitamin D

For media covering the new Institute of Medicine (IOM) guidelines on vitamin D, several experts at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) are available for comment. The new guidelines updated the dietary reference intakes (DRIs) that the IOM established more than a decade ago and represent a significant change from previous limits.

2 Dec 2010

St. Jude ICU honored with Beacon Award for Critical Care Excellence for second consecutive year

The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital has been recognized for the second consecutive year with the Beacon Award for Critical Care Excellence given by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN). In 2009, the St. Jude ICU became Tennessee's first ICU to win the honor.

2 Dec 2010